Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Having missed going for my splish yesterday, I was back bright (or not so brights ..!) and early this morning. My first move was to pull out the thermometer which is resting in the deep end of the pool. 40F which is 4.4 C - definitely brrrrrrr .....! before deciding whether to stick to 2 lengths, I thought of checking whether the sauna was indeed on and pumping out the heat we need!?!

There was no soul to be seen in the water nor in the cubicles ... Stephanie and Simon were however, in sauna after having swam. Stephanie was still on 6 lengths whereas Simon stuck to widths. OK, 2 lengths it will have to be for me!

chilling awakening : 40F = 4.4C

break of the day

proof (yet again) that the winter nights in december

are pretty long - 8am and the (waning) moon is still watching "the activities" at the Lido

not a sole in sight - I had the calm pool all to myself

another short december day - 9am and the sun

is doing her very best to climb upwards

Not long before the lifeguard on duty

will benefit from those few vital rays the sun will offer.

The Moon And The Sun

Both the moon and the Sun came out to play again this morning. A welcome scene after the stormy night we had.

after a very rainy and windy night ...

clouds gave way to a beautiful sky.

the moon was still out ...

... while the sun was trying hard to appear ...

some remaining clouds made for a dramatic sky line

which beautifully reflected in the water

I was mesmerised by the reflections

they almost looked like paintings

Jonathan admiring the setting

before getting in for a quick 2 widths

Alex put his camera under water to try

to get Jonathan swimming back

let's see if he managed?

now I'm beginning to feel sorry

for the abandoned goggles...

after my 2 lengths I was (almost) ready to get out ...

but all these swimmers were making their way towards the shallow end

so I just "had to" stay in to grab a few authentic action shot - Mr Bubbles swam 8 lengths

Carl (alias Mr Ape) swam 10 lengths

Vince and I swam 2 lengths together and

while I was taking some shots he swam another 3 widths

Kate (alias Mrs Ape) stayed

in for what seemed an eternity ...

8 lengths in total, she told us lot

who were getting warm in the sauna (when she finally joined us) ... we did wonder

where she might be and started to "worry" .... ahhhhh ... yes, we do care!!

Ian was motoring up and down in his wetsuit ... and additional neoprene socks

which he tried out for the first time today ...

all he needs now are gloves ... you can't be serious, Ian !?!

sadly, I won't be able to come swimming tomorrow wednesday ...

so I am banking on you, Alex and Mr & Mrs Ape, to keep me in the loop of what's happening at the Lido!!

No Frost But Just As Cold

Although the frost had stayed away (today, anyway ..) the water temperature remained just as cold! if not colder?! Stephanie measured it to be 4.9C on her digital thermometer ... whereas David proclaimed it to be 4.5C - I know SLSC members are finely tunes and can (usually) spot the difference in a degree ... 0.4 degrees, however ... I'm not so sure ... :) but you'll agree, specially those of you who swam today, that is was REALLY cold!

Alex came down to 6 lengths - Sue down to 4 - Stephanie swam 6, Vince kept it at 4 (and thought 3 really would have been a better choice!) I kept my distance at 2 lengths ... Overall, I felt ok, if (only) it hadn't been for the finger tips of my right hand ... I would have felt great! They were pretty frozen by the time I got out ... We are promises much colder temperatures for the coming days ... so, who know what this will do to the water temperature?!

Jonathan on his way to the sauna

A crystal clear sky made for beautiful light

Jane making her way into the pool,

armed with gloves and booties

I love the light in this photo of Jane,

the waves seems to be gentle and heavy -

the dead leaf suspended on the crest of an "oil like" wave.

gentle ripple effect

Suzanne all smiles after her stint in the sauna

and on her way to getting dressed for work

tools for all occasions

when I got out of the water I saw the moon

with partly frozen fingers I managed to capture

her - surely on her way out while making room for the sun!

David on his way to get dressed and

ready to lower his thermometer into the water

sign of Margy being at the Lido

Ode To The Frost

The first thing I saw this morning just before 8am when opening my front door was ice on the windscreen of the cars in my street. The question attached to what I saw was whether the frost was fierce enough cover some of the pool?

More signs of frost on the common ... the water itself had, however, been spared.

But make no mistake swimming in water temperature of 4.5 C (which is what it said on the board by the entrance of the pool) is COLD! I had to check myself, pulled the thermometer which is in the deep end of the pool, out of the water : Yep : just under 5C! I was in two minds whether to stick to two lengths or whether to move down a gear and only swim 1 length?

Swimming one means too much hassle of organising flip flops for when coming out of the pool... besides I asked Wendy how many she had swam : "2" was her answer! Wow, Ok ... and then Catherine got in the shallow end and started swimming up towards the deep end .. past the first set of steps and the second to the end of the pool .. and back .. Ok my mind was set. Two for me too! Good choice. It was (as always) amazing ... as long as you can gage and trust your ability and have a healthy sense of how much of a challenge you want to put your mind and body through.

frozen leaves and grass on the common

outside the gate entrance to the lido and

more evidense of what was to come ... inside

water temperature has dropped to just below 5C

singled out leave ....

and another one attacked by this night's frost for not quite having made it

as far as landing in the water

a few frozen foot steps trailed alongside the pool-

a sign of how cold the floor is

ice trapped leaves in the paddling pool

Nicky, armed with her woolly hat, swimming widths

brave catherine, swimming 2 lengths

(not the catherine who is part of a relay team swimming the channel in set. 2012)

Although one can't see Catherine's face very well

I love the reflection of her face in the water and the soft backlight.

At 8.15am the sun is not nearly high enough to creep over the tree line

almost made it!

Catherine's two lengths breast stroke definitely

inspired me to swim 2 lengths (freestyle) too!

Thanx Catherine!

Leaves For Breakfast

Lido swimmers were greeted by a glorious sunny day again ... well, those who arrived just after 8am that is, as they could figure out that the sun was on her way up, up, up and over the tree line of the railway side of the pool ... the early birds (who swim at 7am) could only judge by the crisp air and arrival of dawn with a cloudless sky that the day would turn out to be just fab! As for those swimmers who turn up from 9.30am onwards, well they had no doubt at all ... but all to soak up.

Simon jumped in after his time in the sauna

a bit shellshocked by the looks of it!

Annie swimming through the leaves

and having some for breakfast ... it seems

I was glad to get to the end of my second length ...

but simply had to stay in

to take some under water shots of the beautiful leaves

the sun came out too and made it all look so magical

engrossed in seeing the world from below the water

I spotted Vince pushing off through a (rare) leaf free zone

thick and heavy water

Margy poking out her head while

getting dressed after her swim and shower .. no sauna ..

I wonder why?!

Jonathan waving to the sun

Sue catching some rays before her swim

David's system of taking the temperature -

thermometer attached to his foot -

"around 5C was the verdict."